Stevens is Smoked Out
By Rebecca Carr | Wednesday, August 30, 2006, 01:17 PM
After much speculation, a staffer to Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, admitted to Cox Newspapers today that the senator is the lawmaker who placed a “secret hold” on legislation that would open up the obscure world of government contracting to public scrutiny.
Until now, it was a political whodunnit as to who quietly blocked legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., that would create a searchable database of government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, worth $2.5 trillion last year.
While speculation centered on Stevens, there was no confirmation. Under Senate rules, the hold remains cloaked in secrecy unless the senator who places it lifts it.
Aaron Saunders, spokesperson for Stevens, said Coburn was informed two weeks ago that his boss had concerns about the bill. Namely, Stevens is concerned that the bill would create more bureaucracy. He wants to see a cost-benefit analysis.
Saunders said there was nothing secret about what Stevens did.
“Senator Stevens has always preferred to handle this at the staff level or member to member,” Saunders said. “He doesn’t like running to the blogosphere or the media.”
“Our reticence in getting out there is that Stevens doesn’t want to be in the media attacking Coburn,” Saunders said. “He has never addressed legislative concerns in the media. It is just not the way the senator has ever operated.”
Placing a hold is a normal part of doing business on Capitol Hill, Saunders said. He noted that Coburn has used the same parliamentary maneuver to block bills coming out of the Commerce Committee.
“Senator Stevens is not trying to show Senator Coburn or any other senator up publicly. Going to the blogs and the media with these concerns is not the way we have ever operated.”
The measure had been unanimously passed in a voice vote last month by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Stevens is a member of. Stevens did not attend the meeting where the bill was approved, according to a vote tally obtained by Cox Newspapers.
The bill has support from heavy hitters like Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. It was on the fast track for floor action before Congress recessed on Aug. 4 when Stevens put a hold on the measure.
coxwashington.com
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